John's Fifteen
by Shashasha
Summary: This story takes place on John's Fifteenth birthday. How has everyone changed since highschool?
1. Chapter 1

This takes place in fifteen years, on the date of John's fifteenth birthday.

5:00 AM

Amy woke up and rolled over to face the clock. Five in the morning! She curled in a ball and tried to will herself back to sleep. It wasn't working. She suddenly remembered that it was John's fifteenth birthday. She might as well get up and set the breakfast table.

Amy had left the presents in her closet, where John or Jenny couldn't find them. She recalled a Christmas three years ago, when Jenny had found all her presents and opened them and then resealed them. The truth only came out with Amy discovered a used bandaid stuck to an art set. Amy chuckled. Jenny reminded her of her sister, Ashley. John was more like his father. Reserved, but sweet.

She didn't know what to wear. _This isn't a date, it's your son's birthday, _Amy reminded herself. She laughed sharply. Everyone was coming later, she should look nice. She finally decided on a simple blouse/skirt combo. She brushed her hair and applied makeup, as she swirled on lipstick, her eyes drifted to a photo on her vanity. It was of her, Ashley and John on the day he was born. She was only fifteen in the photo, the same age John was turning today.

Amy tried to imagine John having a child at his age. She shuddered. A grandma at thirty. Amy smacked her lips in the mirror. She looked fine.

She went over to the closet and grabbed the bag of presents. She had spend all of last Saturday wrapping them. She left her room and walked down the hall. She paused by Jenny's room, and opened the door softly to peek at her sleeping ten year old daughter.

Today was the day for memories. Amy's thoughts drifted back to when she was 19 and married Ben. What a horrible marriage. They had thought having a child would save them. Giving John a brother or sister. Jenny was wonderful, but she couldn't keep them together. Now Amy only saw Ben when she dropped Jenny off at his house every other weekend and every other major holiday. She could remember a time, when John was a baby and the thought of Ricky made her cry. A time when Ben was her savior, the most wonderful man in the world. Now the only thing she was glad for was the fact that he had given her Jenny, her wonderful daughter. She would be turning ten in exactly two months.

Next was John's room. He was a light sleeper, so Amy was quiet as possible peeking in his room. He had his father's hair, but his face reminded him of her mother's. Amy felt a tear rolling down her cheek. It was hard to believe that exactly fifteen years ago, she had been lying in a hospital bed, holding a tiny baby. She had been frightened, more frightened than she had ever been. She didn't know if she would be able to do it. She couldn't even imagine this tiny person growing up and becoming the young man he was today.

"I love you John," Amy whispered. He stirred lightly, but remained asleep. Amy smiled and walked downstairs.


	2. Chapter 2

8:00 AM

"Jennifer Sarah… what are you wearing?" Amy sighed. Jenny was dressed in a strapless pink dress that touched the floor. Her hair was messy and she was wearing mardi gras beads.

"I dressed up, I think I look pretty. Is Aunt Ashley coming today?" Jenny smoothed her dress.

Amy sighed again, she didn't really feel like fighting with Jenny over this one. If she wanted to look ridiculous, so be it.

"She is. And she's bringing Martin and the kids," Amy said, filling up three cups with strawberry lemonade, John's favorite.

"Why couldn't Aunt Ashley have a girl my age instead of three little boys?" Jenny sighed, throwing herself into her chair dramatically.

"I doubt Aunt Ashley deliberately made Drake, Cale and Gus boys just so you wouldn't have a friend. And besides, the twins are two. That was my favorite age," Amy sighed dreamily.

"I thought you said that when I was two it was like living with the devil himself," Jenny said.

"With you, yes," Amy kissed her daughter's head, "But John was adorable."

"What was your favorite age with me?"

"I like you now. I like being able to talk to you. I remember when I was growing up; my mom and I were very close. I liked it a lot," smiled Amy, cutting pieces of the coffee cake.

Oomph!

Jenny slammed her head against Amy's back in a massive hug.

"ILoveYouTooMommy!" Jenny yelled in one breath. Amy chuckled and peeled the nine year old off of her.

"Help me, Jen Jen, ok? Why don't you spoon out the fruit salad into bowls?"

Jenny nodded and started taking out the good crystal bowls.

"Be careful with those, ok?"

Jenny nodded, "Are they expensive?"

"Yes, very."

"Then why did you buy them? I thought you said buying expensive kitchenware was stupid," asked Jenny, taking spoons out of the drawer.

"They were a wedding gift. From Uncle Ricky," Amy sighed.

"I like Uncle Ricky better than my daddy sometimes," Jenny admitted.

"Oh Jenny, don't go around saying things like that. Your daddy loves you," Amy said truthfully.

"But he doesn't love _you._" Jenny gave Amy a look.

"He does love me, Jenny, and I love him. He gave me you and I will always love him for that," Amy said, again being truthful.

"If you guys love each other and love me, then why did you get divorced? It was eight years ago, when I was just a baby. Was it my fault?" Jenny's lip quivered.

"Oh no, no, no, sweetie. You were just a baby. You made us love each other even more. But your daddy, Ben, and I. We just weren't made for each other."

"Oh," Jenny said, "Do you love Uncle Ricky?"

Amy sighed, "What's with all the questions today, Jenny? I do love Ricky. He's been there for me since the divorce and he's been a great father to John—"

"A better father than my daddy," muttered Jenny.

"Oh stop that, just because he doesn't see you often doesn't mean he doesn't love you," said Amy.

"Oh yeah? Then how come Uncle Ricky comes here after work and if he brings a present for John he always brings one for me. And he has custody the same time my daddy has custody of me but he comes here all the time! Daddy only comes to get me. And we do boring things. He takes me to the butcher shop and doesn't even care that I'm a vegetarian," Jenny yelled. She stamped her foot, "I wish Uncle Ricky was my daddy."

She left the fruit and said down in her chair, arms crossed.


	3. Chapter 3

9:30 AM

"I'll get it!" Jenny shot up and ran to the door, there stood her grandparents and Uncle Robie, but since he was only fourteen she just called him Robie.

"Hi!" yelled Jenny. She hugged all three of them and dragged her grandmother into the house, "MOMMY! JOHNNY! ROBIE AND GRANDMA AND GRANDPA ARE HERE!"

Anne chuckled; "Jenny I love your outfit today!" she said, winking at Amy.

"Oh boy," Amy raised her eyebrows and pulled Jenny off of her family members.

"Jenny this is John's party, not yours, don't forget," Amy warned her. Jenny brushed it off, "Mom, I'm just leading them to the birthday boy."

"Rob!" John high fived his uncle.

"John! How's it feel it be fifteen?" Robie asked him, handing him a silver gift bag.

"Awesome. You'll love it," John said, taking the bag.

"Robie told me you wanted that video game, so we got it for you," Anne said, smiling.

John peeked in; "Woah! Thanks G-Ma, G-Pa, Rob," he nodded at each one as he said their names. Then he motioned for Robie to leave with him. The two skirted upstairs.

"Come back down when other people get here!" Amy yelled after them.

"Who else is coming?" asked George.

"Well, Ricky is, and Ashley and her family. Just family," Amy said in response.

"And there's me, of course," Jenny fluttered her eyelashes.

"And you're the main attraction!" George lifted Jenny up, who squealed, "I hope I never get really big so that I can always be lifted up waaay high!" she shrieked in delight.

George chuckled, and carried Jenny over to the table. Anne and Amy sat down as well.

"So Amy," Anne said, "How does it feel to be the mother of a fifteen year old?"

"Uggh," Amy said, "I feel ancient. I can't believe that I was John's age when I had him!"

Anne nodded, "Hopefully ---" She didn't need to continue; everyone knew what she was about to say.

There was an awkward silence, so of course Jenny piped up.

"I have a boyfriend. His name's Gabe," Jenny said seriously, "He's in the fifth grade."

"That's my girl!" said George, ruffling Jenny's hair.

Amy rolled her eyes and Anne patted her hand.

"They grow up so fast," Amy muttered wistfully.

Anne chortled; "You're preaching to the choir, Ames."

10:00 AM

The doorbell rang. It had to be Ricky, seeing as everyone else had already arrived.

"I'll get it," said Amy, getting up from the table.

"It's gotta be Dad," said John to Robie, "When was the last time you saw him?" Robie shrugged in response.

Amy smiled at them, and walked to the door. She took a deep breath before opening it, "Hey Rick—"

She stopped mid-word, for there at the door was not Ricky, but Ben.


	4. Chapter 4

"Amy."

"Ben! What're you doing here… are you here for Jenny? Please let her stay, it's John's birthday!" Amy, flustered, opened the door and motioned for him to come in.

"I know it's John's birthday. That's why I came. To say happy birthday and give him this present…" Ben trailed off, "Where are they?"

"Um," Amy was confused, why would Ben come, uninvited? It reminded her of back when they were fifteen.

"Just follow me," she told him, leading the way to the kitchen.

"Ben!" Anne looked shocked.

George did too, but he quickly regained his composure, "Ben ole' boy! How's the Sausage King? How's the butcher shop?"

"Fine, fine, fine, same old Leo. He and Betty actually just got back from Dublin," Ben said, looking oblivious to the awkwardness of his visit.

"Dublin, Ireland?" Anne asked, "That's so far."

"What's far?" Jenny had left the living room where Ashley and the boys were.

"Your dad—" Amy didn't get to finish because Jenny screamed.

"DADDY! It's not even custody time!" The little girl wrapped her arms around Ben's waist, "Did you come to say happy birthday to John? He's in the living room, come with me, Daddy!" Jenny grabbed Ben's hand and pulled him through the doorway. Amy, George and Anne followed.

"Well, well, well," Ashley frowned at Ben.

"Hi Ashley and hi Marvin," Ben said, waving to Ashley and her husband Martin.

"It's Martin. Tool," whispered Martin under his breath. Ashley giggled and elbowed him. Their two year old, Cale, giggled at this.  
"Happy Birthday, John," Ben said, less enthusiastically than he had been before.

John looked at him, puzzled, "Um… thanks, Uncle Ben." He accepted the white envelope Ben handed him.

"Did you get me a present?" Jenny whispered loudly as she looped her arms around both her parents' waists.

"It's not your birthday. Well, not for another four months," Ben said absentmindedly.

"Four months?!" Jenny jumped away from him, "My birthday is May 20th, that's in two months! My own Daddy can't even remember my own birthday!" She shot away and up the stairs to her room.

Everyone stared at Ben.

"I—" But before he could finish, there was a knock on the door.

Ricky.


	5. Chapter 5

John answered the door, and it was Ricky. He led his father into the living room, where everyone else was mingling.

"So John, you're fifteen!" Ricky smiled and wrapped his arm around John. One of Ashley's two year old twins, Gus, toddled off her lap and grabbed Ricky's foot.

"Fooffft," Gus smiled, giving him a toothy grin.

Ricky chuckled and picked him up to hand back over to Ashley.

"Speaking of young children, where's Jenny?" he asked, looking around. Then he noticed Ben.

"Oh, hi Ben. Amy didn't tell me you were coming, not that that's a problem. You were married to Amy, I guess," said Ricky.

"Jenny got upset and went upstairs. She'll be ok," said Amy, looking nervously at Ben.

"Ben did something?" Ricky asked in a defensive tone.

"It's no big deal. You know Jenny. She's a drama queen," Amy replied.

"Maybe I can talk to her. I am a child and family therapist, after all," said Ricky.

Ricky opened the door to Jenny's room. She was sitting on the bed, arms crossed, lips in a pout.

"Hey Jen," Ricky said as he slipped in the room.

She looked up and glared, "What do you want?"

"I want to talk to you. Will you talk to me?" asked Ricky.

"No. Well, ok. Is it about my daddy?"

"It's about whatever's bothering you. Jenny, I may not be your dad, or even your uncle, but I care a lot about you. I'm your brother's dad, and I've known you your entire life," Ricky said, sitting next to Jenny.

She crossed her arms tighter and a tear rolled down her cheek, "I think I love you more than my real daddy."

Ricky let out a long breath, "Jenny it would hurt your daddy very much if he heard that."

"I don't care!" Jenny flung herself around, "I want to hurt him. He hurts me everytime he forgets my birthday or just takes me to the butcher shop and then goes and works when he has custody of me. I'm a vegetarian!" she was crying harder now and Ricky put his hand on her shoulder.

"Jenny, you know how your middle name is Sarah, after your dad's mom, your grandma?"

"Yes," Jenny wiped her eyes.

"Well your dad was your age when she died. Can you imagine how sad he must've felt?"

Jenny shook her head, "My life would be over if my mom died," her lip quivered with the thought.

"You see, I'm a therapist. So I know a lot about psychology, which is the study of why people are they way they are, pretty much. Your dad is what we call a textbook case, that means we've seen a lot of people like him. For some people, your dad included, when they lose someone they love so much, they never want to love that hard again. You know why?"

Jenny shook her head, "No."

"Because he's afraid that if he loves you too much, something bad will happen. Now, now, listen. He doesn't directly think this. It's subconscious, which means he doesn't mean to think this. He doesn't mean to. It's not his fault," Ricky said.

"Then why does he do it?" Jenny didn't understand.

Ricky shrugged, "That my dear, is the question all therapists ask themselves everyday. But I can tell you how you can help him. You can love your daddy. You can tell him you love him and you can ask him if he can take you ice skating or to Burger King for a veggie burger instead of the butcher shop. You can remind him of your birthday and give him a present on his birthday. Can you do this, to help your daddy heal?"

"Heal from what?"

"Heal from the loss of his mother, many years ago. When he heals he can finally move forward and accept that he has a daughter who needs his love!"

"But so he does love me now, he's just… scared?" Jenny asked, looking pleased at herself.

"Yes! Good job, Jen."

Jenny smiled, "Let's go back downstairs."

"Good idea," Ricky ruffled her hair.

Meanwhile, in a hotel in Phoenix, Arizona.

Adrian was staring at her watch on the bus to work. For some reason, she felt like this day was special. But why?

It had something to do with high school. Ricky. She hadn't seen him since they had graduated. A good thing too. He was probably a McDonalds fry cook. Maybe he had even married Amy and that skinny twig had popped out more babies, like what was his face, John.

John.

Adrian remembered.

It was John's birthday! She laughed inwardly as she recalled fifteen years ago, sitting in a waiting room, waiting for a baby she hated to be born.

That poor Amy Juergens.

Adrian herself had become a mother last May. She still shuddered when she remembered the pain. But her son, Jamie, had been worth it. He was at daycare now. He only went two days a week, when Adrian worked. And those two days were horrible. She missed him and thought of him endlessly. Now she wondered how Amy had dealt with school and a baby. Now that would've been pure hell.

The bus stopped, and Adrian stood up and adjusted her skirt. She was an editor for a book publishing company and had to look sharp when she went to the office.

As she stepped off the bus, her cellphone buzzed. She flipped it open, it was just her husband, Dave, calling.

"Yes?"

And for the rest of the day, Amy and John Juergens, of Adrian's old life, were out of her mind.


	6. Chapter 6

Same time, Kochi, India.

Grace held the tiny hand in her own. She was tired, so, so tired. She craved sleep and she craved peace for these tiny children destined to die in this run down hospital. She craved that this tiny girl with the big eyes and skinny braids would be able to heal.

The mother, Indira, spoke to the Indian nurse who translated for Grace.

"She wants to know if Amala is going to die."

Grace felt tears welling up in her eyes, she reached for Indira and stroked her arm.

"I am so sorry," she bowed her head and handed the toddler to her mother. Instantly the tiny, frail body starting having convulsions. The poor mother, only seventeen, just a child herself, began to sob.

Grace looked at her. When she was seventeen she was cheerleading, partying with her boyfriends. Not sitting in a rundown hospital holding her dying two year old.

Amy Juergens.

Grace instantly thought of Amy. The girl who had a baby at fifteen, had a two year old at seventeen. While it must've been hard for Amy and John, at least they had good medical care and John didn't die young.

"What day is it?" Grace asked Shanta, the translating nurse.

"March 23rd."

Grace shook her head, sighing.

Today was John's fifteenth birthday.

Same time, Dick's Sporting Goods in Atlanta, GA.

"Jack?"

He turned to face a young boy with acne and a monobrow.

"Welcome to Dick's, how can I help you?"

"Hehe, dick! Where are footballs?"

Jack sighed.

"Footballs are in aisle seven."

"Can you take me there?"

"Seriously kid, they're five feet away."

"Please?"

The kid looked at Jack with big eyes and pouted his lip. Jack figured he had some sort of mental retardation and took pity.

"Alright son, come with me."

"Wow neat o! I love this one!" the boy had picked up a lime green plastic football and was zooming it all around.

"Can it be my birthday present? Weee woosh!"

Jack groaned, "No, you have to pay for it."

"Please Jack?"

Jack groaned again, "Look kid, you have to pay for it. I'm not your dad."

"You could be. Your name is Jack, my name is John! We're J's!"

"John? You say your name is John?"

"Yeah, why?"

Instantly Jack was taken back to Grant High. A tired, brown haired girl named Amy Juergens flooded his memory. He recalled their graduation day, when a chubby toddler escaped his grandmother's grip and waddled up the aisle to his mother accepting her diploma.

He also recalled going to the hospital on what was it, March 23rd?

March 23rd.

"You said birthday present? When's your birthday, John?"

"Today."

"Is your mom named Amy?"

"No. My mom is dead. She took drugs!"

Jack's eyes widened.

"But her name wasn't Amy?"

"No, it was Celine."

Jack needed a break. He pressed ten dollars into John's hand.

"Happy birthday kid, go buy your football."

John's house 4:00 PM.

Almost everyone had left. Ricky was helping Amy tidy up the background while John and Robie, who was sleeping over, played video games. Jenny was sitting on a lawn chair reading Highlights magazine.

"Thanks Ricky, for talking to Jenny like that. I don't know what you said, but I can tell it meant a lot to her."

"Oh," Ricky looked up at Amy, "It's no big deal. You're an amazing mother to these two kids. Thank you for raising my son."

"You helped, you helped me raise both of them," Amy smiled.

"You did most of it. I never truly apologized for that night at band camp. It was years and years ago, but I'm so sorry. It was my fault. I completely betrayed your trust. You were barely fifteen."

"Oh," Amy sighed a long drawn out sigh, "Ricky that was so long ago. And I love John, I never regret having him. We did make a mistake Ricky, but I was partially to blame," Ricky turned to her as if to say something, but Amy put her hand up, "don't bother, Ricky. The past is the past. When I was pregnant I always wasted my time on what ifs. What if I hadn't gone to band camp, what if I got the abortion, what if, what if, what if. You can't waste your life on what ifs Ricky. The past is the past. We have John now and I have Jenny and I'm so grateful, everyday I'm so grateful."

Ricky had tears in his eyes.

"Thank you, Amy."

She turned and smiled in his eyes and stepped forward.

For an instant they were back at band camp.

Before Amy knew what was happening they were kissing.

"Maybe we could try again," whispered Ricky, before kissing her again.


	7. Important notice!

Hey everyone!

I'm considering writing a sequel, or just another moment into Amy and Ricky's lives using these characters I've created. Please comment on this if you'd read it! I've gotten so many great reviews on John's Fifteen and I love the character of Jenny and I'd like to explore her a little more…

Sincerely,

Shashasah (formerly Myrtle Maneet)


	8. Dearly Beloved

I've started a sequel/companion to John's Fifteen. It will be called Dearly Beloved and will be /significantly/ longer than John's Fifteen was. I have a really good idea for Dearly Beloved, and I can't wait to explore it.

Shashasha


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